Holy Great Martyr Menas in the Hymnography of the Orthodox Church

By Fr. George Dorbarakis

Saint Menas lived during the reign of Maximian, and as a soldier he belonged to the order of the Noumeroi, called the Routalikon, under the ruler Argyriskos, in Kotyaeios of Phrygia. Because he could not bear to see the error of the idols prevailing, he climbed a mountain, striving to purify his heart with fasting and prayers. After he had sufficiently strengthened himself and ignited his soul with the divine desire for Christ, he came down from the mountain. So he went and stood in the midst of the idolaters and with power confessed his faith in Christ. For this reason they beat him, they scratched his flesh very much with hairy cloths and they put him in a burning cauldron. Finally, after they had wounded his whole body with his constant dragging on thorns, they killed him with a sword.

The eyes of the holy poet Theophanes, full of faith and God’s grace, become our spiritual glasses today, in order to see the other, hidden dimension of the martyrdom of the Holy Great Martyr Menas, but also of his post-martyrdom state. The spectacle that first reveals to us when the earth, sanctified by his blood, covers his holy body, is truly magnificent. As if we were in a spiritual planetarium, it guides us to see, together with him, the sunset of the Saint in this world and his glorious sunrise in the world of heaven, of the Kingdom of God. “Earth now embraces your steadfast body, O blessed one, having endured the contest; the spirit ascends to heaven with the spirits of the Martyrs, rejoicing, and shining with the most radiant glory.” The Saint, like the other Saints celebrating with him, Saints Victor, Vincent and Stephanie, constitute the jewels of the invisible heaven, of the Church, just as the stars adorn the created firmament of the sky. “The stars adorn the heavens, Compassionate one, but the Church is adorned with Menas, Victor, Vincent and Stephanie.” And yet: the Hymnographer takes us to the face-to-face relationship of Saint Menas with the Almighty Lord, Who “smelled” his fragrance like freshly baked bread from Menas’ martyrdom and his reference to Him like fragrant incense. “Being deified you now see Him face to face, Menas.” “You appeared as bread in the midst of a burning fire, being baked… and emitting a divine fragrance, which God perceived.”

Prologue in Sermons: November 11

On Almsgiving

November 11

(Saint John Chrysostom on Almsgiving)

By Archpriest Victor Guryev

Saint John Chrysostom speaks of almsgiving as follows: "Almsgiving possesses great boldness: it will loosen the bonds of the imprisoned, dispel darkness, quench fire, kill the worm, drive away the gnashing of teeth, and with great joy open the gates of heaven." Is Saint John Chrysostom's expression about almsgiving justified? Yes, know, brethren, that it is expressed quite correctly, and there should be no doubt whatsoever concerning the truth of his words.

Almsgiving "loosens the bonds of the imprisoned," that is, it frees a person from sins. This is evidenced by the account of the Lord's visit to the house of Simon the Pharisee. In this house, a woman, despised by all for her sins, offered alms to the Lord. She took an alabaster jar of precious ointment; upon entering the house, she knelt at Jesus' feet, weeping, and began to wash His feet with her tears, wiping them with her hair, kissing them, and anointing them with the ointment. Seeing this, the Lord said to Simon: "I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven, because she loved much." Then, turning to the woman, He said, "Your sins are forgiven you" (Luke 7:36–50). 

The Experiential Study of Holy Scripture

By Archimandrite Kyrillos Kostopoulos

Study is an important element in man’s journey in search of truth.

To this end, from the earliest Christian times, believers were called to study the Law of God, the Old Testament. The Prophet David exclaimed: “How I love your law, O Lord! It is my study all day long” (Ps. 118:97).

Then the New Testament was added, in which the now revealed Truth is found, without the types and patterns of the Old Testament, insofar as our Lord Himself revealed about Himself that “I am the truth” (John 14:6).

Study is the voice of God to man, just as prayer is the voice of man to God. Saint Chrysostom tells us: “But the reading of the Scriptures is the speech of God” (PG 50, 90). He who loves the study of Holy Scripture, according to Clement of Alexandria, becomes a “theodidact” (cf. Stromata, Book 1, 20, 98, etc.).

Saint Arsenios the Cappadocian and the Habits of the Elderly

By Fr. George Dorbarakis

We came to know Saint Arsenios the Cappadocian, called Hatzefentis, mainly from the book written about him by another Saint of our time, Elder Paisios the Athonite. He was the one who “charmed” Saint Paisios from a young age, already by their place of common origin, Farasa in Cappadocia, and for this reason he wanted to follow in his footsteps in life and become a monk, fully dedicated to God. And perhaps this turn of Elder Paisios towards the monastic life, apart from his own inclination, was due to a certain extent to the power of the prayer of Saint Arsenios, who saw in the person of the little Farasiotes (later Saint Paisios, son of the then President of the people of Farasa, Prodromos Eznepides), his own successor, as he even expressed this at the time of the child's baptism - it is known that at the time of naming, he "forced" the godfather to say his own name, Arsenios, instead of the name Christos. Saint Paisios' desire to write the life of Saint Arsenios was embedded in him for many years before this became a reality. And when he had already collected enough evidence, which over time increased after his own research and that of other acquaintances, and had somehow completed the book, Saint Arsenios after a miraculous appearance “applauded” the work of his disciple and “successor.”

Holy Martyr Orestes in the Hymnography of the Orthodox Church

By Fr. George Dorbarakis

This Saint was from the city of Tyana in Cappadocia. Because he confessed his faith in Christ, he was arrested by the emperor Maximinus, during the reign of Diocletian. Not persuaded to sacrifice to idols, but boldly confessing Christ as God, he was beaten with rods so hard that his entrails were torn out and visible from the outside. After that, he was led to the temple of the idols. There, with a simple blow on the idols, he immediately turned them into dust. Then he was delivered to prison and after seven days he appeared before Maximinus’s tribunal. And again, because they tried to force him to sacrifice and he was not convinced, they pierced his ankles with large nails and tied him with chains to a wild horse, which ran with great force, and after dragging him twenty-four miles from the city of Tyana, he gave up his spirit.

The steadfastness and spiritual strength of the soul of the Holy Martyr Orestes is what is particularly emphasized in his Service by the ecclesiastical poet. The Martyr, according to him, has such inner strength that the considered all-powerful tyrant did not dare even to endure the brilliance of his words. “The tyrant could not stand the brilliance of your words... he was powerless.” The cause of this power of the Saint was certainly none other than the power given to him by the Holy Spirit, Christ Himself, on whose rock of love he had established his existence. The hymns on him are wonderful: “The torrents of sufferings that piled up could not shake the tower of your soul, blessed martyr Orestes. For you had been established on the rock of the Lord’s love, you who are worthy of admiration." “Strengthened by the power of the Paraclete.” “Jesus Christ made you resolute by divine grace.”